We have seen some significant changes at Staffordshire Buddies since the last edition of Positive Lives. Janine Hunt left her position as Director in June to take a senior role in the public sector in Manchester. John "Mac" Macarthy replaced her for a short while but has unfortunately had to leave us after suffering ill health. Now Chris Woolls has joined the team bringing with him significant and valued experience having worked with a variety of HIV and sexual health services in the South East.

Chris will be taking us forward and looking at ways to develop services and service delivery for all our Service Users by carrying out a full organisational review with the help of the Service Users, volunteers, trustees, funders and staff.

The review is a positive move that has been brought about from the decision to withdraw from actively seeking new premises in Stafford. The Executive Committee met and decided after discussions with Service Users, staff and volunteers that the Services of Staffordshire Buddies could continue to be provided from the Hanley and Lichfield MesMen bases.

The decision will be revisited on a regular basis to ensure that the Service Users across the county can expect ongoing development of the services they are entitled to.

The ongoing question of the future of the Hanley offices has not yet been answered. The proposed East West Precinct development of the bus station is still planned, however there has been little progress and we are still unsure of any proposed compulsory purchase or blight that this might cause.

So the administration of the charity will continue to be carried out at the Hanley offices along with direct services for those infected and affected by HIV. The MesMen team will continue to work from Lichfield, along with Matt Wills who also provides direct services to the South of the county.